“Walked around a bit. Nothing interesting.”
She didn’t know why he was always so uptight. It was almost like he was actively trying tonothave fun. They chatted for a bit, outlining their stay in Vegas. They agreed that they would stay in Vegas for another two days before moving on to Arizona. Somehow that fight had worked in her favor because he wasn’t so antsy to get to Florida anymore.
Eventually the time came for her to get ready. She grabbed her shopping bags and went into the bathroom. Her shower was quick. What took a long time was deciding which dress to wear. She tried the black one on first. It was tight and very short, ending mid-thigh. Mandy had said it made her legs look great, but now she just looked dwarfy and a little…cheap. It was too short. If she bent over, nothing would be left to the imagination. Instead, she decided to wear the turquoise one. This one was ankle length with a high slit up one leg. The rounded neckline didn’t show any cleavage. It was conservative sexy. The problem was that it was strapless, showing off her arms. Her arms were impressive, they really were, but they were Linda Hamilton inTerminatorkind of impressive. Not feminine at all. She put on a thin jacket, which simultaneously hid the ostrich-ness of her waist, and a pair of silver open-toed heels.
She felt a lot more comfortable as she walked out of the bathroom to the large mirror in the middle of the room to apply her make-up. She was no expert, but Rachel had given her some tips before her last party and the main thing she’d learned was that less is more. Light brown on her lips, a darker brown on hereyes. She wanted it to look as natural as possible, but at the same time make her look older than she was. She chose to use kajal instead of eyeliner. It was thicker and darker and gave the smoky look she wanted, accentuating her light brown eyes.
Kevin was on the bed behind her and, in the mirror, she could see him watching her. He wasn’t discreet about it. His eyes followed her every movement as she put on her silver hooped earrings and she started feeling self-conscious again. She tried to ignore him as she toyed with different hairstyles. Her hair was pin-straight, impossible to curl, and the length of it left her with limited options. Lifting it into a high ponytail, she turned her head from side to side, and then decided to rather twist it into a neat bun.
“Leave it down,” he said from behind her. “It looks better down.”
She allowed it to unwind and tumble down to her waist. He shifted off the bed and she turned to face him as he approached the mirror.
“I think…you should lose the jacket too,” he said.
God, she was an insecure mess tonight. “Um…I don’t really…I mean, I have very masculine…shoulders…and I don’t feel comfortable—”
“Fuck.” He grabbed both sides of her jacket and tugged her towards him. “Enough with the girly shit. You’re an embarrassment to rappers everywhere. Cowboy up.”
Her eyebrows creased. “And you say I don’t make any sense. What the hell does cowboy up mean?”
“It means man up, grow a pair!”
His hands slid beneath her jacket and onto her shoulders. Something happened every time he touched her. She got all tingly. She preferred it when he was an abrasive asshole. This softer, tender side was confusing. His rudeness she could deal with, but not this. Promising his niece to go to a ball, sharing hisfood, smiling, kissing her, asking the other women to take care of her—No! Just no.
Even now, his encouragement was abrupt but she needed that tonight. She was drowning in anxiousness and insecurity and she needed that to snap her out of it.
But his hands on her body weren’t doing much to ease the nervousness. In fact, it was making it worse. In those few moments, she had a sensory overload. The sound of her rapid heartbeat was thumping in her ears. Her mouth was so dry it tasted like sandpaper. The smell of his cologne was intoxicating and the feel of his warm hands on her shoulders caused goosebumps all over her body. But her eyes were the traitors. Her eyes locked on his lips, the same lips that had kissed her today. Her eyes saw someone beneath the asshole and she wished she could un-see it. Hating Kevin was so much easier. She wasn’t constantly questioning his actions.
It wasn’t necessary for him to step closer, but he did. “I’m going to take this off,” he said.
His breath tickled her skin and she had to bite her lip to stop the gasp that was about to burst out of her mouth.
It wasn’t a question, but his fingers lingered on her skin as if asking for her permission first. When she said nothing, he slowly slipped the jacket off her shoulders. Once it fell to the floor, he took a step back, his blue eyes leisurely roaming over her from head to toe. There were a few times she felt like covering herself up, because it was more of a penetrating stare than a quick once over.
“I don’t see anything masculine about you.”
She waited about a minute and his eyes were still on her. “Uh…you’re just…staring at me.”
“Yeah. It’s a…it’s a bit of a mind-fuck, is all.”
Coming from Kevin, she took that as a compliment. “Well…could you maybe…stop doing it? I’m quite impressionable and I might get the wrong idea.”
A slight smile tugged at his dimples and she wasn’t sure if he would have looked away had it not been for the knock at the door.
“Brandy!” Mandy sang from the other side. “We’re here.”
“I’ll get it,” Kevin said, heading towards the door.
Mandy and Sandy swarmed inside, but Candy stayed at door, right beside Kevin. All of them looked amazing, high heels and short dresses.
“You look incredible,” Mandy gushed. She took Jasmin’s hand and slowly turned her around. “Told you this dress looks good on you.” She turned her head towards the door. “Hey, Loverboy. Isn’t this so much better than sweatpants?”
He stopped talking to Candy to look at them. “I wouldn’t say…it’s better.” His eyes were fixed on her again. “Just different. Same gift, different package.”
Well, what the hell did that mean? She didn’t even get a chance to read his expression because Candy swiftly turned his face until she had his full attention again. Jasmin tried not to get too distracted by the whispers between them and grabbed her clutch. As the three of them walked to the door, the whispers became a little clearer.
“You don’t have to be alone all night,” Candy said, stroking his cheek. “You could come with us.”
